"Perhaps monsieur will deny," she said, looking at Cranford, coldly,
"that he wrote this note to her and her sister the very first day of
his sojourn here?" and she held out to him the slip of paper.
Cranford took it and read it at a glance, while Nell stared at it with
starting eyes.
"No," he said, "I don't deny that I wrote it; but--"
"And perhaps mademoiselle herself will deny that she asserted to
Monsieur Tellier that she did not know her rescuer? Here are her words,"
and she produced a second note.
"I deny nothing," said Susie, proudly, and she looked the duchess
unflinchingly in the face.
Cranford walked straight over to the Prince of Markeld.
"Wasn't it Miss Rushford who told you?" he asked.
"No, it was the note," answered the Prince, fiercely.
"Which Tellier stole from Miss Rushford's desk," added Cranford,
sternly, "leaving this tracing in its stead," and he took from his
pocketbook a slip of paper. "Such methods are doubtless characteristic
of the Paris police, but they seem to me almost as unworthy as those
employed by us."
"You are right," agreed the Prince, his face livid. "That dog shall pay
for it!"
"My nephew had nothing whatever to do with it," broke in the duchess,
sharply. "It was I who secured the note, who persuaded him to--"
But the Prince stopped her with a gesture.
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